


the only exception

by shadowstint



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Fluff and Angst, Mutual Pining, Short, au where colleen and sam holt are divorced, i'm sorry omg, lance is about to change that, not sure if you could consider this a songfic but okay it kinda is, pidge doesn't believe in love, shit idk how to tag
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-05
Updated: 2017-10-21
Packaged: 2019-01-09 09:32:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12273687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowstint/pseuds/shadowstint
Summary: there were three reasons why pidge's life motto was "why bother with love if it never lasts?"1. her divorced parents.2. her ex boyfriend.3. science says that the so called "love" only last a maximum of three years.





	1. prologue

**Author's Note:**

> idk man i just love this ship so much. enjoy this poorly written prologue.

There were three reasons why Pidge's life motto was from a Taylor Swift song, "Why bother with love if it never last?"

First were her parents. Colleen and Samuel Holt were the perfect parents to Matthew Holt and Katherine "Pidge" Holt. Both children were given the above average intelligence gene, the simple yet fun childhood, and of course the love. But sadly Colleen and Sam weren't the perfect couple. They were far from that. They were different, too different and it was too late when they realized that these differences would creat chaos in their family, and it did.

If twelve year old Pidge had a dollar for everytime Matt had to go to her bedroom and help her go to sleep, distracting her from the noise downstairs where their parents were fighting, she would probably have enough dollars to buy a rocket ship and just fly away from all the bullshit, all the pain she had experienced. Seeing her parents fight and get divorced was bad enough but the universe just hated her so much that it had to separate her from Matt.

After getting divorced and having their own place, they decided that it would be best if Pidge stayed with Colleen and Matt with Sam. Pidge had to live miles away from the person she trusted the most and the only person she could consider a friend. Matt would sometimes visit his mom and sister, but even sometimes was an overstatement for he was pretty busy with school.

Pidge's life was completely changed just because her parents' love and feelings didn't last longer like it should. And so she thought perhaps love wasn't really meant to last long?

Second reason was her ex boyfriend. Yes, she had one. Her friends in high school used to tell her that not all romantic love couldn't last for long. "You'll never know until you try." They said. It was like a research. She already had a hypothesis so she thought, there was nothing wrong with a little experiment right?

Thus, she dated Alexander, Xan as everybody called him. Xan was this very kind, smart, funny, and all that dreamy boy attributes guy from her calculus class. He had asked her on a date once but got rejected. The fourth time he asked her out, she finally agreed. He wasn't bad actually, Pidge liked Xan. Like _like_ like. Romantically. For the first time she felt all those butterflies and tingling feelings hormonal teenagers would post about on tumblr. After six months of dating though, she unfortunately felt all those aching feelings broken hearted teenagers would post about on tumblr.

Heartbreak. Such a weak word for a strong feeling. Pidge had experienced heartbreak before. But romantic heartbreak was worse than the feeling of having a failing grade or watching your favourite fictional character die.

 _"I'm sorry, Katie. You're cute, yes, but other than that you're just an_ _encylopydia_ _with legs."_ Xan said after she caught him eating a girl's face at a party.

_"Why ask me out in the first place then?"_

_"Well, who would've knew the campus genius was boring as hell?"_

_Ouch. "Wow."_ Was the only thing she could respond as she tried her best not to cry or scream at him cause she knew well she was better than that.

Though, their relationship might be a failure, her experiment was a success. She had proved that love wasn't something that could last long.

Third reason was a simple scientific fact that supported her first two reasons. The chemicals that cause our brain to feel love only last a maximum of three years. True love doesn't last a lifetime. And from all the relationships she had seen and observed, from her parents to her own past relationship, Pidge was convinced that this was definitely true.

Nothing was permanent in this world.

Not even love and feelings.

So why bother?


	2. hoping

Pidge didn't really care about fashion and clothing. She wore whatever was available or clean in her closet. So it didn't excite her that much when her friend, Lance, said that he was going to take her shopping. Though she didn't mind, she'd be much more enthusiastic if he took her shopping for something else, maybe video games or parts for a new robot that she was working on.

"This would look cute on you." Said Lance, grabbing a green cropped hoodie and showing it to the brunette with a cheeky smile that said _try it._

Pidge's bored frown deepened. "I don't want my belly exposed."

"Never wore any cropped stuff before huh?"

"Yeah." The small teen touched the soft yet slightly thick fabric of the hoodie. "Looks uncomfortable."

Lance only responded with a long, thinking hum before taking the hoodie with him and walking to another aisle. Pidge watched him with confusion as the blue eyed grabbed what seemed to be a high waisted white pants and walked back to where she was standing. "Try these." He said, handing her the green hoodie and white pants. "With this pants, your precious belly wouldn't be exposed that much."

A sigh came out of the girls mouth before speaking. "Do I really have to?"

"Yup. You promised Allura that you're at least going to try and put effort on what you're going to wear to her birthday party tomorrow right?"

Oh right. Pidge's lip formed a small pout. Her roommate, Allura, had asked her to wear something a little more feminine –in society's standards– than what she would usually wear, telling her that she didn't need any birthday present as long as Pidge promise to show up at her party with an actual party outfit. But then again, Pidge didn't mind. She used to wear dresses, blouses, and other feminine clothing all the time before college threw away every fuck that she had for how she looked and what she wore. Because honestly, getting a higher GPA was better than being pretty. For her, that was.

"Stop pouting and get changing." The boy in front of him interrupted her thoughts. He then found a chair just beside the dressing room and sat there, looking at her with a somehow excited smile.

"Don't get your hopes up. These may look awful on me." Pidge said as she walked inside the dressing room with the clothes that Lance picked out for her.

Honestly, she didn't know why she agreed to go shopping with him. She could just wear that one cute sundress she kept at the back of her closet to the party.

Lance though, was the "new party, new clothes" type of dude, and he insisted that Pidge needed some new ones too even though he knew quite well that she had some pretty decent party clothes somewhere in her dorm. This whole shopping thing was just a weak excuse to spend more time with the person that he had been crushing on for months now that also happened to be one of his closest friends.

Lance didn't exactly know when, why or how this whole being attracted to Pidge started. She wasn't even his type in the first place. But damn did her adorable laugh, incredible sass, impressive above average IQ, beautiful smile, and just everything about her made the butterflies in his stomach riot. Took him a long time before he could accept the fact that he indeed liked her though. It wasn't easy being attracted to someone when you truly value your friendship with them. Plus, he knew very well that Pidge wasn't interested in getting into romantic relationships.

She did a really great job making people think that she was the "I don't need no man" or "studies before cooties" type of chick. Though, Lance and some of her friends knew very well that that wasn't the case. The truth was, she was more of a "love sucks, I'd rather fuck myself." gal. Pidge wasn't bitter like all those women who hated romantic movies, telling every single couple that they're going to break up someday, no. She just wasn't interested.

And Lance respected that. It wasn't easy being attracted to Pidge, having to fight the everyday urge to just wrap his arms around her small frame and tell her how much he wanted her to be his, it was definitely a challenge.

The sound of moving curtain then interrupted his thoughts as Pidge came out of the dressing room. He felt his heart skip a beat at the sight of her.

"Well?" The girl spoke. "Any criticism?"

"You look–" _Amazing, beautiful, hot._ "Nice."

"Nice." She repeated, not really satisfied with his answer. "Like a six out of ten nice or?"

"What? It's a ten out of ten!" He couldn't help himself but blurt out the truth this time. The outfit just looked incredible on her. The high waisted pants fitted her perfectly, showing a bit of her shape. The cropped hoodie suited her, green was definitely her color.

Pidge had told him once that her physical appearance wasn't actually the type of looks that would stand out in a crowd. _"I'm pretty average."_ She said.

Oh she was totally wrong. She might not have the physical appearance of an instagram model or what society thought an instagram model should look like. But Pidge was so darn pretty. She may not look like your typical campus crush but she was definitely a girl that could make you stare at her for a second and appreciate how unique yet beautiful she looked. Especially when she was all dressed up like this.

"I guess I'll take these then." Said the brunette. She had to admit, she kinda liked how it looked on her. She needed to thank Lance later.

———

"Hey, Lance." Pidge said, pinching the edge of the tall boy's jacket to stop him from walking as she stared at her phone with a face that screamed "not again."

"Something wrong?" He asked a little worriedly.

"I'm staying at your dorm tonight."

He let out a snort. "Shiro's staying at yours again?"

Pidge looked down at her phone again, rereading her recent exchange of text with a certain colored hair woman.

_Shiro's staying over tonight! : > I promise this'll be the last time, Pidge, I'm really sorry. I owe you._

_it's fine. by now i'm used to it. you guys need your privacy. have fun! ;)_

  
_It's not like that!_

_yeah right :p_

  
"Yup. I'm staying with you guys." She said.

Pidge had slept multiple times at their dorm anyways. She practically started living there even before Allura and Shiro got official. It wasn't long ago when Hunk, Pidge, and Lance became friends. The three met at Professor Coran's physics class where they were asked to group themselves into three for a project. Pidge badly wanted to do it by herself because one, she knew she could totally do that and still get a high grade and two, she wasn't really a people's person.

First year Pidge wasn't convincing enough though. Coran ended up giving her a small talk about how it was important to learn about team work or something, grouping her with the only two member group in his class which was the freakishly tall guy who never stopped flirting with each and every pretty girl he saw and what seemed to be his stocky, kind best friend who was actually one of the most participative in class.

The three immediately clicked, with Pidge and Lance having the same interest and taste in video games, Hunk and her with their love for tech, and just the three of them being nerds for astronomy. At first, Pidge would only hang out at their dorm whenever they needed to fix or make adjustments for their project but as time passed, it slowly started to become a normal thing for the short girl to just barge in and out of their dorm.

The first time she slept there was an accident. Exams and project deadlines were messing up her already stressed brain. The three were studying on the floor –well, Lance was trying at least– when Hunk suddenly heard a soft snore coming from the small brunette. Pidge's head was tilted back, leaning on Hunk's bed, eyes closed, and mouth slightly opened. The guys were awed at the sight.

The next day, she woke up on Lance's bed, covered in his favourite warm blue blanket. Her lips formed a soft smile as hint memories of Lance carrying her to bed and Hunk whispering "careful" from when she was half asleep flashed through her mind.

"As much I as I love Shiro and Allura, I'm not really planning to get a master's degree in third wheeling." She sighed, letting go of Lance's jacket as the two then again started walking side by side to his and Hunk's dorm with shopping bags in their hands. Mostly Lance's hands.

"You know you should really start appreciating the art of being a third wheel."

"You said it like being a third wheel is some kind of a blessing." The short haired responded with a raised brow.

"Well, kind of. I mean it's fascinating to watch two people fall in love with each other more and more so."

Pidge cringed internally. Not really succeeding in hiding it physically for Lance still noticed how her eyes slightly squinted followed by her nose scrunching.

He let out a chuckle. "You really need to experience falling in love."

"Don't want to." She said before giving Lance a side glance. _But I am._

———

"Where's Hunk?" Asked Pidge as they entered their room.

"Probably at mullet's working on their calculus project."

"Hmm. Guess I'll take his bed then." She responded, already sitting on said bed.

The girl then took out her phone from her pocket. She opened her messages and noticed an unread text from Allura. It was received ten minutes ago.

_You're staying at Hunk and Lance's right?_

Pidge typed her reply.

_a_ _s usual, yeah_.

  
Not a minute later, her phone buzzed.

_Enjoy :)_

_t_ _f does that mean?_

  
_Shiro told me Hunk is at their dorm with Keith. He said it seemed like he'll be staying there until morning. Which means ;)_

_n_ _o midnight snack._

  
_Stop pretending and enjoy your time with Lance, Katarina. Good night!_

Pidge texted Allura good night before putting her phone on the small desk near Hunk's bed. Finally letting her body lay back on the soft mattress, she couldn't help but contemplate on whether telling her roommate about her growing feelings for Lance was a good thing or not. She just wouldn't stop teasing her about it.

It wasn't that Pidge was annoyed, she just didn't want to be reminded that she was indeed falling in love when she specifically told herself a long time ago that she would never.

She didn't want to fall in love. Especially with someone who was very close to her, someone who she didn't want to lose. But heck she was falling. Fast.

"Uh, what are you doing?" The shorter brunette asked, sitting up to look at her friend.

"Putting some of my pillows on Hunk's bed?"

"Uhu." She raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"You couldn't sleep well the other night. I figured maybe it was because you didn't have enough pillows to hug or something." Although he said it like he was teasing, there was still a hint of genuine worry in his voice.

"Wha–" Lance was right– though, that wasn't the only reason. She wouldn't admit it but she was used to sleeping with a million of stuffed toys surrounding her. She never slept without having something soft in her arms. Either a pillow or one of her favorite stuffed toys, she wasn't picky. Pidge grew up with this habit, reason why her bed back at her dorm was still full of comfort pillows and a couple of stuffed toys. "Thanks, I guess." Was the only thing she could respond to the kind bastard.

At that moment, Pidge wanted to scream at him, tell him to stop being so nice to her for a moment or do something completely shitty to turn her off. Something, anything to make this growing feelings of hers stop. Her situation made her pity herself. Falling in love wasn't supposed to be this hard. Why couldn't she just let herself fall for him? Why couldn't she just let herself be happy? Her thoughts made her cry internally.

But when Lance looked at her and smiled, it was like for a split second everything stopped and his smile pieces through all of the bad in her life... and all is well again. "Don't mention it."

———

It was now midnight and Lance could tell that Pidge was still awake. From the bed across his, he could hear her non-stop moving, trying to find the perfect sleeping position. This was very unlikely of her for Pidge was the type of person who could fall asleep immediately after closing her eyes for like two seconds. Lance then moved to face the shorter teen, her back facing him.

"Need more pillows, Pidge?" He asked, his voice sleepy and soft.

She didn't answer but moved to face him instead.

"You okay?"

"Matt told me he visited mom the other day."

Lance didn't expect that response. But he sure was willing to listen. "That's grea–"

"With dad." _Oh._ He thought.

"How did it go?" He asked, knowing what she might answer next from the tone of her voice.

"Horrible. Matt said they ended up arguing and sending each other death glares the whole night."

"Oh shit." Was the only thing that came out of his mouth. Lance didn't know what to say to be honest.

He knew about her parents. Pidge had opened up to him about it multiple times. Probably even more times than to any other person, even to Matt or Allura. He knew they were the main reason why Pidge had a more negative perspective on love and romance. And he couldn't blame her, or her parents. Life just worked that way. He just wished the universe didn't fucked up his friend's life like that.

"Oh shit indeed. Why do middle aged divorcees act like they're still moody, bitter teenagers who just broke up with their high school sweetheart? Can't they just act more mature about all this relationship bullshit– I mean it's not bullshit, relationships must be taken seriously but fuckin hell they've been–"

"Pidge." Lance cut her off. "You're rambling."

She sighed before responding. "Sorry. It's just..." He heard a small sniff which made his heart sink to his stomach. "My family is already broken yet it still continues to fall apart."

That was it. That was the final straw. The taller brunette stood up from his bed, seeing a glimpse of Pidge's confused face with the help of the moonlight shining from the window before he lied next to the girl, went under the covers and wrapped his long arms around her small frame.

"The fuck, Lance?" She said, sounding confused but not bothered.

"Don't cry. You're ugly when you cry." _Okay, not true. But I hate seeing her cry._ He thought.

"Everyone's ugly when they cry, dipshit."

"Not me. I still look pretty pageant worthy even when mucus are dripping out of my nose."

He felt a slight relief when he heard her chuckle. "Gross."

For a moment they stayed liked that. Pidge moved closer to Lance's chest, his scent comforting her for some reason, while his hand rubbed small circles onto her back. His chin rested on top of her head as he broke the comfortable silence. "Everything's going to be alright eventually."

"I hope." Pidge responded. "Is it wrong that I'm still hoping though?"

"Hoping that everything's gonna be alright?"

"Hoping that everything's gonna go back to the way it was. Hoping that my parents could just work things out and become the happy married couple that they used to be. Hoping that our family could be happy again."

She felt her eyes stinging while saying these words. She hadn't told this to anyone before but yes she still had hope. A small one but it was still there. Pidge was a simple girl with a simple wish. She wished for her parents to fall in love with each other again, like the way protagonists and their love interest do in those romantic movies Lance would make her watch every movie night for the whole month of february last year. Even though in the back of her mind, she knew it was impossible.

But maybe, just maybe, there was still a way her parents could find their way back in to love, to each other. If that happened, everything would be fixed. Their family could be one again, _happy_ even.

If that happened then maybe, just maybe, Pidge could have faith in love again. Maybe it would make her realize how it was never that hard to fall in love in the first place. If that happened maybe she could, at least, give her feelings for Lance a chance.

This thought suddenly made her aware of their position and it made her heart pound on her chest. She just hoped he couldn't hear it. Lance and Pidge were basically cuddling. But friends cuddle right?

"It's not wrong." Said Lance. "Just, for now you need to accept the fact that they're still a little far from being... that." _Together_.

"I know."

"But it doesn't mean that it's bad or wrong to have hope. Whatever happens, you'll learn to accept it and you'll learn to adapt, you'll learn to be happy. I know you will. You're like the strongest vertically challenged person I know."

Her small laugh made the butterflies in his stomach dance like crazy.

"Fuck you, Lance. But thanks."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i love making everything so dramatic lol anyways, i hope you like this chapter (don't forget to leave kudos if you do :)). not sure when the next one will be out though. depends on how productive i'm gonna be this week

**Author's Note:**

> is this good? should i continue?


End file.
